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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of June 14

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUN 13, 2020

Coral pink coneflower blossom

Transplant coneflowers now for blooms all summer. Pollinators love them, too. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Make most of mild weather; heat coming again soon

Enjoy this brief cool down; more heat is on the way.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento temperatures will swing wildly again this week with at least a 20-degree difference between this weekend and midweek. After a breezy day in the mid-70s on Saturday, Sunday will be just about "normal" for June with a high forecast of 88 degrees. Sacramento's average June high is 87.

Monday and Tuesday will hover around 90 degrees before the breeze disappears and the furnace switches back on. Forecast for the rest of the week is "sunny and hot," with highs of 97 degrees or above.

So, if you have something that needs attention in your garden, do it now before the heat creeps back up.

Here are some suggestions:
* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.
* Weed, weed, weed! Bindweed, nutsedge and other unwanted invaders love the heat and are growing rapidly now. Pull them before they go to seed.
* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the wee hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.
* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.
* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.
* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.
* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.
* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.

Zinnia transplant

June is the perfect time to plant zinnias.

*Deep-water tomatoes, peppers and squash, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal or rock phosphate can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.
* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* From seed, plant basil, beans, corn, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

June is the perfect time to plant zinnias.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.
* Transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

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CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

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Garden Checklist for week of Sept. 15

Make the most of the cool break this week – and get things done. Your garden needs you!

* Now is the time to plant for fall. The warm soil will get cool-season veggies off to a fast start.

* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.

* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.

* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.

* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.

* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.

* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.

* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials.

* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.

* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with "eyes" about an inch below the soil surface.

* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.

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